The Success of the Great Commission

One of the major talking points of Dominionism is the success of the Great Commission. Their argument goes that since Christ has triumphed over His enemies and we know that all the promises are fulfilled in Christ, the Great Commission must be successful. The statement itself is absolutely true but the question must be asked - how is success defined? Answering that question is key because success itself is a vague term. Take a simple example of a corporation. Its leadership might determine that success is increasing its revenues by 10% over the year. Now that the leadership has set a clear target, at the end of the year one can gauge their success. If they increased their revenue by 9%, they have failed and if they increased it by 10.5% or 12% or 100% they have succeeded. The point being that the clear metric set by the leadership on what success is, defines it. In the same way when we speak of fulfilment of Biblical prophecies and therefore the success of the Great Commission, we ought to consider them through the lens of Christ and the apostles. We’ve already considered some of their hermeneutics earlier in this work. How does that apply to the Great Commission?

The New Humanity and Existing Distinctions

There is great significance to the theme of a new man drawn out in the New Testament. The bringing together of the Jew and Gentile under one body is a proclamation that the Church is Israel. In Romans 11, Paul masterfully demonstrates how the gentiles are grafted into the covenant promises contrary to nature. In line with this theme, Paul teaches that distinctions between Jew and Gentile, ethnicity and social standing are subsumed by the new man’s identity in Christ (Col 3:11). This doesn’t indicate that these distinctions are wiped out in the present age but that they are not categories of eternal significance and we shouldn’t be consumed by them, even while accepting their existence for a time (Eph 6:1-9, 1 Pet 2:18).

Snippets: Increased Mockery of Easter Rejection Among Protestants

It's become more and more fashionable in our time to mock the rejection of holy days like Easter, a practice that was passionately rejected by various groups throughout history including the Proto-Protestants, Pilgrims, Puritans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Fundamentalists, Anabaptists and Separatists. In other words the great majority of Protestant groups since the days of Constantine rejected these days. Moreover, even among the earliest churches, the widespread practice of these days in the form we see today was simply not established until much later.

Of Last Things: Part 3 – A Great Kingdom Reversal

So far we have read about the judgement of God that will bring to an end the present material and celestial orders. However, what will become of the new humanity that God is redeeming for Himself? The Bible never gives us a detailed account of God’s plans for the world to come, in fact it specifically tells us that we aren’t even able to comprehend those truths (1 Cor 2:9). That said it does give us several glimpses into that reality, at least in forms that we are able to apprehend, so as to comfort us as we go through afflictions in our present life. These glimpses strengthen the Christian’s resolve to persevere in the faith, knowing what lies ahead. These glimpses are of things promised to us by God Himself and therefore we can be certain that we will inherit those promises if we persevere in Christ.

Of Last Things: Part 2 – The End of the Present Celestial Order

We have seen how the created order consists of both a material and a celestial component and how these realities reflect each other. At Babel God divided the nations as an inheritance to powerful celestial beings called the sons of God. These beings had rebelled against God under the banner of Satan. Earthly nations were ordained to be a manifestation of their rule from the high places. These beings, along with the sons of God and angels who were loyal to YHWH formed God’s Divine Council. This forms the basis for the present celestial order. Even though these beings were cast out of the Divine Council on Christ’s ascension, that established order whereby the sons of God rule over the nations of this world remains - Satan himself retaining the title of god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). However, as we have seen a judgement on a nation was a reflection of the judgement on its gods and vice-versa. Therefore, the end of the present material order also spells the doom of the present celestial order. This doom was already proclaimed in Eden, ushered in at Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension and on the last day, it will become a consummate reality.

Of Last Things: Part 1 – The End of the Present Material Order

Of all the intrusions of the Day of the Lord into space and time, the flood in Noah’s day was the greatest. As we have already seen, this was a judgement on a global scale that resulted in the death of all living things, save for Noah, his family and a pair of every animal to repopulate the world. Not only were the humans of the first world killed, all their works, their cities and everything they built and stored up were destroyed in the deluge. In other words, the works of civilization did not survive the destruction of the first world. After this destruction, we have seen how God established a general covenant with all of Noah’s descendants, promising to preserve the world and its natural order - day and night, summer and winter, cold and heat, springtime and harvest. Yet, this promise was given under the backdrop of the ultimate destruction of the order - for the covenant was made as long as the earth remaineth (Gen 8:22), indicating that there would be a time when it would no longer remain. Though there was a promise that the world would not be destroyed in water, the ultimate end of the second world has always loomed on its horizon.

The New Covenant and Antithesis: Part 6 – A Remnant, Apostates and a Typological Judgement

We have followed this theme of remnants and apostates throughout the Bible. We have seen how throughout the Old Testament, the people of God were a small minority that was persecuted and rejected by both those who rejected YHWH and many who professed to belong to YHWH but lived in wickedness. In the days of Noah, a single family was spared. In the days of Abraham, a single family was called out. In the days of Elijah, only 7000 Jews remained faithful to YHWH. This theme also holds true in the New Covenant.

The New Covenant and Antithesis: Part 5 – Kingdom Ethics – Non-Violence, Restoration and Reconciliation

We have already seen how God established a system of retributive justice to govern the created order in the Noahic Covenant. This is an outworking of the very nature of God, which is Justice. Since God is Just, every act of injustice and unrighteousness must be punished by Him. This punishment is proportional to the injustice or unrighteousness committed (Gen 9:6). This was the principle God established for the governing of His kingdom on earth in the Old Covenant (Ex 21:23-25, Lev 24:18-21, Deut 19:21). However, Christ Himself declares that this principle of justice does not characterise the citizens of the kingdom of God in the New Covenant (Matt 5:38-42). 

The New Covenant and Antithesis: Part 4 – Kingdom Ethics – Power, Stability and Money

The Old Covenant Israelite theocracy was typological of the heavenly kingdom. In that covenant we see that the Lord made several promises of earthly prosperity to His people, if they were obedient to Him - “And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee” (Deut 28:11). We have also seen how all of these earthly blessings were typological pointers of the eternal blessings we have in Christ, with the apostle Paul saying that all the promises of God are yea and Amen in Christ (2 Cor 1:20). They were thus typological of kingdom blessings and not an end in and of themselves. Since the kingdom of God is not of this world and doesn’t claim worldly territory, worldly wealth no longer serves as a covenant blessing to its citizens. Christ Himself teaches this when He declares, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (Mk 2:17). The implications of that statement are important to understand. Christ isn’t saying that worldly wealth is an intrinsic evil but He is declaring that it is not something that is part of His kingdom.